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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22680562">barracuda</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/rain_at_dawn/pseuds/rain_at_dawn'>rain_at_dawn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>stars, scattered [16]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>SHINee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Band Fic, M/M, Unresolved Romantic Tension, kibum at his tsundere finest</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:41:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,004</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22680562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/rain_at_dawn/pseuds/rain_at_dawn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees now,<br/>Wouldn't you?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kim Kibum | Key/Lee Jinki | Onew</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>stars, scattered [16]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1608877</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>barracuda</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>prompted by @Icah71291496 on Twitter</p>
<p>song inspo - barracuda by heart</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The clumsy thud of footsteps is unmistakable on the patch of lawn. It’s close enough to where the photoshoot’s taking place, so close that Kibum knows it’s a pair of heels, spindly and unsteady enough to sink into the soil beneath the lush green grass. One muffled shutter click later and he knows there’s another sasaeng underfoot.</p>
<p>It’s Jinki’s solo shooting now; the director squints through the mid-afternoon light, searching for that elusive angle to capture. Kibum’s gaze drifts from the laptop screen open on of the tables nearby to the faraway ocean view beyond the palm trees. It must be getting close to high tide.</p>
<p>Taking care not to bump into any assistants or trip over any power cords, Kibum makes his way into the shadows.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Earlier that same day, Jinki’s sudden appearance on the shore had caught him off-guard for all of a few seconds. And then, Kibum had had to school his features into something cooler, more becoming than the brush of heat that flitted under his skin at the sight of Jinki’s hair in the breeze, his legs pale and bare and ungainly on land.</p>
<p>That was the expression he wore when he pulled up from the water, with the board under his arm, the very one which Jinki met with a grin that could’ve just broken over the morning horizon.</p>
<p>“Kibum-ah, I’ve been calling you!”</p>
<p>Kibum had nodded, feigning what he hoped could pass for nonchalance, as he treaded wet sand. But Jinki was already bounding towards him with all enthusiasm and no pretense, and then Kibum feels his hands, their fingers brushing his wet skin.</p>
<p>“You could’ve let us know.” Jinki implored, smile intact. “I was wondering where’d you’d gotten to.”</p>
<p>“And you found me anyway.”</p>
<p>“I asked the receptionist.”</p>
<p>A sudden flash of memory: the girl behind the desk, hair styled in a sleek bob and long smooth nails painted a shade of toffee, eyeing them all sideways as she checked and rechecked the details on the screen in front of her. Minutes later, as they’d begun to walk away to their respective rooms, Kibum had felt her stare again, fluttering dangerously close over Jinki’s retreating, unsuspecting back.</p>
<p>It was thoughts like these that Kibum needed to keep under control. He’d probably hoped to drown them beneath the waves at six in the morning. Jinki had ruined his plans again.</p>
<p>As if sensing the irritation directed toward him, Jinki’s smile had turned apologetic and his tone softened when he offered “Breakfast?” to Kibum, like it would ease the rush of heat that roiled in his chest.</p>
<p>Kibum had tightened the grip around his board and moved ahead of Jinki, back to the hotel.</p>
<hr/>
<p>“She was taking him in like a piece of meat.”</p>
<p>Jonghyun hadn’t seemed to hear him over his earphones, which is just as good for Kibum.</p>
<p>“She’d better not try sinking those talons into him, if she knows what’s good for her.”</p>
<p>There’d been a sharp nudge to his ankle; Jonghyun had heard him.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The magazine shoot was supposed to take up the majority of the day, following the interview. They had to fill up on breakfast, excluding carbs and sugar, and anything that would’ve made the early hour worth waking up for.</p>
<p>The receptionist had left her post at the desk and was slinking about behind the potted plants that stood on either side of the restaurant entrance. Kibum had wondered how long it would take for a supervisor to notice, preferably sooner than later.</p>
<p>Jinki had refrained from talking to him again after the beach, which went unnoticed by everyone else since they were all in the midst of a pre-caffeine fugue state. There wasn’t much of a shift in mood even when their coffees arrived. Kibum watched Jinki carefully over the rim of his cup, taking in the tired eyes and downturned corners of his mouth.</p>
<p>He’d tried not to make it too obvious when walking up to the buffet and piling a plate with as much cold cuts of meat as he could get away with. Kibum had tried not to make it appear anything more than obligatory when he’d deposited the loaded plate in front of Jinki, tried not to search for any traces of the grin he’d been gifted with at sunrise earlier.</p>
<p>After they were done eating and leaving to go get styled for the first round of shoots, Kibum had spied her hot on their trail, slinking close to the wall, her phone poised and ready.</p>
<p>He’d put an arm around Jinki, hurrying him along, not caring whatever the fuck it looked like.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Minutes later, Kibum returns just as Jinki’s shoot wraps up.</p>
<p>The laptop on the table is open and as Kibum passes, he catches glimpses of Jinki’s profile, soft and golden in each frame. He’s just in time to catch up with Jinki as he walks to where the foldable chairs are placed in the shade.</p>
<p>Seated side by side, it’s still uneasily quiet.</p>
<p>Then: “Missed you at my shoot.”</p>
<p>Leave it to Jinki to shatter his nerves with something like that, intentionally or not.</p>
<p>“I had something to take care of.” Kibum replies. His voice must have caught, because he feels Jinki’s eyes on him, boring into him.</p>
<p>“Something?”</p>
<p>Better not beat around the bush anymore.</p>
<p>“I told that bitch to stay the hell away from you.”</p>
<p>He doesn’t know how Jinki’s going to take that. Kibum tightens his grasp around her phone, the one he’d snatched as soon as he’d snuck up behind her hiding place in the surrounding bushes. He’s already played out the possible reactions in his head: <em>‘Just what were you thinking, Kibum?’, ‘You should’ve ignored her’, ‘I could’ve handled it myself, you know?’</em></p>
<p>“Oh,” is all Jinki comes up with. Nothing follows.</p>
<p>Kibum chances a glance and is rewarded with the sight of that same smile. The heat rises beneath his skin, recalling the too-brief brush against Jinki’s.</p>
<p>When Jinki touches his elbow reassuringly, Kibum doesn’t flinch away.</p>
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